SECRET BATTLE

NFL Owner Secretly Relapsed and Was Taking Ketamine Before Death

Jim Irsay died in May 2025 after a lifelong battle with substance abuse.

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay relapsed on drugs two years before his death in May, according to a Washington Post investigation published Thursday. Irsay had been open about his struggles with substance abuse in the past but hid the relapse from the public. The revelation has invited scrutiny of the “luxury” recovery doctor who prescribed him opioids and ketamine “at amounts that worried people close to him.” The same doctor, Harry Haroutunian, signed Irsay’s death certificate, which listed cardiac arrest as the cause of death. No autopsy or toxicology testing was performed, the paper said. Citing five people with direct knowledge of the case, the Post found that Irsay overdosed three times in the last five years of his life, incidents that Colts executives and Irsay himself kept hidden from the public. All five sources told the Post they witnessed Irsay receive ketamine injections. He died May 21, 2025, at age 65. In a statement, Irsay’s daughters, Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Casey Foyt, and Kalen Jackson, who now control the Colts, said, “The media is not the place to address inquiries about information which is disputed, lacks essential context, or involves private medical matters.”